There are many different perspectives for this topic. On one hand, someone may say that the friends they made abroad are the closest friends they have. There are certainly a lot of reasons for this. One of the more logical reasons why someone may feel this way is the principle of having things in common. It is indeed more likely that persons who seek out working opportunities like teaching English abroad may have a set of personality traits in common that can facilitate friendships between themselves; maybe they are more adventurous, creative, uncertain about their future, curious, academic... Another dominant reason why someone may feel as though their closest friends are those they made while being abroad has to do with the condition of living abroad. For most, taking a job abroad is to uproot oneself. Uprooting is an act of severance, severance from a working and living environment that is easier for us to become part of the fold of. It's an act of severance, but for all us working abroad, we have all severed and now we are all together in this severed state. (Let's see how many times I can say variations of "sever.") This connects back to having something in common, I suppose. But the point is somewhere a bit different. The point is more that those of us who chose this lifestyle (for however short or long) are all put into this strange situation together. It's a classic movie plot: usually two people, however unlikely they are as friends, are put in an extenuating circumstance (they are forced to collaborate to win a championship, to appease a friend, to defeat an evil guy, etc...) and by the end of the movie, through all of their trials and tribulations, they are friends and probably lovers too (because romance sells--I don't mean to take the comparison so far as to say that you become lovers with most of the people whom you meet aboard haha). It's not difficult to imagine my point, as it's certainly not original to my mind; people put in a situation that may be a little bit strange and uncomfortable are bound to make meaningful connections together. Perhaps vulnerability has a role here: (I can't speak for everyone but..) we all made ourselves vulnerable by leaving our comfort zone to be abroad, most of us are starting from scratch in a new place, and we all want friends and don't want to be lonely. It's an understanding from the plane that we are on and we are all eager for meaningful connection...and with so many people around each other who are eager, connections are bound to be made.
And yet.....there are some things that make these connections a bit weak. I know that I have made great friends here, ones that have taken care of me and seen me in some of my ugliest states. The only little thing comes to mind as evidence to a possible weakness in my friendships here (abroad) is what happened before Christmas break. All my closest friends and I were feeling homesick, we all were succumbing the the wintertime slump of work and we were all notably anxious to get home to our family, friends and familiarity. We (mentally) checked out of work, we checked out of taking care of ourselves, and in some ways, I feel, we checked out of each other. We hung out, but partially as a distraction to last us those last hours before returning to our 'other lives.' This may have been an isolated circumstance though...I don't know. Vulnerability rears its pretty head again...Are you willing to open up and expose yourself to those whom you know your time with is fleeting? Is the authenticity of our friendships jeopardized by the very thing that may have
